Customer Reviews

Genesis (Music of)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It's a challenge to take The Complete Guide To The Music Of Genesis seriously after reading Chris Welch's review of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. His assessment of the early albums is astute, but one can only assume he needs to give The Lamb some more listening time. (Of course, serious fans of Genesis always knew it was not an obvious record, and that it required repeated headphone application.)

Granted, there are unwieldy instrumental sections, and the story is a bit of a dud. But we never really bought progressive rock albums for the lyrics, did we? (In fact, if we'd wanted words, we'd surely have bought Penguin editions of William Blake?) No, we wanted to listen to music, and music that was arguably more interesting than anything else available at the time or, in many cases, since.

However, to suggest that Phil Collins might have been "...falling asleep over his kit" on Hairless Heart, or that Tony Banks might have been making "... the best of a bad job" on Anyway, is simply short-sighted. Indeed, when Welch suggests that the punk movement was accelerated by such albums, one might, in turn, also observe that it was the punk movement which was influenced by such albums. Killing Joke or The Clash would have surely embraced Back In NYC with its manic insistence and demonic charge?

Furthermore, even though The Lamb addresses a city theme in its story, the album still overflows with much the pastoral beauty and atmosphere with which we had come to associate Genesis. These qualities became virtually extinct in later albums and had all but disappeared by the time of Invisible Touch, an album Welch seems to think came "closest" to being the band's "ultimate" opus.

Finally, to point out two small factual errors, it is clear on the album notes for Seconds Out that Phil Collins is not playing keyboards on Robbery, Assault and Battery and Cinema Show, but that he is playing drums during the respective keyboard solos.

A track-by-track record of any great band's complete works is always welcome and, for this fact alone, praise must go to the publishers. However, there will be many a Genesis fan for whom this book will represent misplaced criticism of some of the band's greatest work.

Chris Welch is a very good writer, and I enjoyed his little pamphlet (for that is really all this is) on Genesis. When I first read this, I had no clue about his history with Melody Maker and so forth, I was just trying to learn about the band. He writes descriptions and short critiques of every song and every album they did up until "We Can't Dance" and pretty much every solo effort to that point (mid-1990's). I would only truly recommend this book to someone who values Welch's opinion on this sort of thing. Hardcore Genesis fans like myself would find it rather hard to swallow that he thinks "The Lamb" is a complete and utter waste of time, and that "Invisible Touch" is the ultimate Genesis album. Still, if you're a Genesis neophyte, and wish to know a general description of the style and contents of each album, this helps. Probably just as informative to read amazon.com reviews of each album!

This Guide is slighter than you'd expect with regard to the kind of detail that Genesis fans would really love. Good but not great.

A great addition to any Genesis fan's library. Offers Chris Welch's detailed analysis, record-by-record and track-by-track. Also reviews the five priciple members' solo work. Up-to-date through 1995. Good writing and analysis; author mixes in some humor, so it's entertaining as well as informative.

After spending many hours in the library during the late 70s and early 80s reading concert reviews and interviews with various members of Genesis in imported copies of Melody Maker - most of them penned by Chris Welch, I found this booklet to be disappointing in that it is far from complete and (based on other readings) sometimes inaccurate. It would be my hope that some day Chris would write a real book about Genesis, similar to his book about Yes, full of anecdotes about their touring days, insites into more of the songs - the stuff Gallo didn't have the space for.

This author, while rich with words, is lacking in tact. The book makes reviews of each album, and almost every song. He shares his terribly rude opinion he has about each song, as if he's some kind of musical prodigy. And while it may be commendable that he took the time and effort to publish the book, I see no point in buying someone elses opinions. They're free on the web.

If you're an old fan of Genesis you're familiar with Chris Welch, much less the Genesis catalog. The only interest might be some photos that are not so common, and even the author isn't sure where they originated from! Other wise, this is just a healthy introduction to the band and related releases.